The San Francisco 49ers' season ended in unfortunate fashion last season, as quarterback Brock Purdy tore his UCL in the first quarter of the team's loss to the Philadelphia Eagles before backup Josh Johnson was ruled out to a concussion, leaving the organization without a signal-caller in the most important game of the year.
As a result, the 49ers were left without a chance, as the Eagles easily advanced to the Super Bowl, where they eventually lost to the Chiefs in a 38-35 battle.
Following the season, the 49ers were left with a plethora of quarterback news, as Purdy's recovery was reported to take around six months. Kyle Shanahan immediately shut down any chance of former quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo returning to the team this season, which caught some people in the wrong way.
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"No, I don't see any scenario of that."
Shanahan on the possibility of Jimmy G returning pic.twitter.com/jb6XoHGggh
— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) February 1, 2023
Did Garoppolo himself take offense to Shanahan's parting comments this past offseason?
In an exclusive interview with the San Francisco Chronicle's Mike Silver, Garoppolo admitted that the comments hit him differently. Although, he hadn't heard it directly from the source and instead via someone else.
"Yeah, definitely, [it hit me differently]," Garoppolo admitted. "I didn't see it, no, but someone probably texted me about it. I don't know if I responded."
After hearing the comments, Garoppolo's mindset was to try and make the best of the situation, understanding that situations don't always go in one's favor.
"I mean, we're all people," Garoppolo said. "You hear it, things like that. I just try to make the best of the situation. We've all been through hard things. In life, things are gonna happen that don't go your way, and you've just got to make the best of it."
"As the quarterback of a team, there are a lot of guys looking at you in that huddle. So, you really can't show that side of it. You've just got to go out there and ball. That's the part that's the hardest. But it's part of the job."
Shanahan was asked about his comments during this week's joint practices presser, to which he scolded the media for blowing out of proportion, delivering a strong message about Garoppolo's time in San Francisco.
"I think Jimmy was unbelievable for us," Shanahan said. "We won lots of games. I think that was a simple question. Is there a scenario where he'll be back here next year? And I give a commonsense answer: 'No.' I think that was a little overblown on trying to be a shot at him or anything. We knew Jimmy wasn't coming back on his standpoint and our standpoint financially and everything."
Shanahan went as far as to say that Garoppolo was the best quarterback that the 49ers have rostered since Steve Young's tenure with the team.
"I think he was the best quarterback here in about 20 years since Steve Young," he said. "Has an unbelievable record, and every time he played and stayed healthy, we were either in the Super Bowl or NFC Championship Game. So, I hope no one insinuates I ever said differently."
Looking back at Shanahan's comments, it was totally understandable why he immediately shut down the option; Garoppolo was primed for a strong, multi-year deal in free agency, which the 49ers clearly weren't going to pay, given their goal to roster a cheap quarterback room, and the team wouldn't be able to promise a starting role.
All Shanahan did was answer a yes or no question with the answer the media sought.
